News of the Week 2/28/08

Why I’m Hooked on Twitter
Howard Rheingold lists the nine reasons he loves Twitter: openness, immediacy, variety, reciprocity, a channel to multiple publics, asymmetry, a way to meet people, a way to find people who share interests, and a window on what is happening in multiple worlds.

The Wisdom of the Chaperones
“Social-media sites like Wikipedia and Digg are celebrated as shining examples of Web democracy, places built by millions of Web users who all act as writers, editors, and voters. In reality, a small number of people are running the show.”

Internet Advertising Revenues Again Reach New Highs
“The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) today announced that Internet advertising revenues for 2007 are estimated to grow to $21.1 billion, a 25 percent increase over the previous revenue record of nearly $16.9 billion for full year 2006.”

Tweetscan: Slicing Conversations on Twitter
“Twitter is a humongous chat room that you can subscribe to slices of through various interfaces… Tweetscan has really opened my eyes to the value of slicing into and out of twitter discussion.”

The Myth of Placing Ads “Above the Fold”
“Today we put the ads next to the content or in between action points like commenting or sharing links. This is because the visitor subconsciously sees the ad and may be looking for something to do next.”(Thanks to Mary Chapman for the link!)

Link journalism: Credibility and Authority
“The new link journalism supplies evidence by backing up statements. Rather than making a phone call to a favorite and easy-to-reach expert or pundit, the journalist conducts research (imagine that!) and sources the facts by linking directly to them.”

The 3 “Impossible” Conversations for Corporations
“I’ve told several executives that the most important –yet most difficult –conversations they can have are the following: asking for feedback; saying positive things about your competitors; admitting you were wrong.”

Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business
“The rise of “freeconomics” is being driven by the underlying technologies that power the Web. Which is to say, the trend lines that determine the cost of doing business online all point the same way: to zero.”